Published by an old curmudgeon who came to America in 1936 as a refugee from Nazi Germany and proudly served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He is a former law enforcement officer and a retired professor of criminal justice who, in 1970, founded the Texas Narcotic Officers Association. BarkGrowlBite refuses to be politically correct.
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Sunday, April 02, 2017

HELLO AMERICA

If you need a cop, don't look for Dirty Harry to show up

by Harry Dunne

After several years of political prosecutions and unfounded rants about the racist police, were any goals achieved?

Police were hounded by the media with biased stories that were considered news even if they weren’t true. Then there were the Smart Phone videos that were edited to show the part of the event that was unfavorable to police. A President and DOJ with an agenda to show police in a negative light. If you don’t agree with that last statement then look at the news now that a new presidential administration has taken over. Black Lives Matter, which should have been prosecuted for terrorist threats against the police, has become quiet. Rabble rousing talking heads have all but shut up.

Police officers nationwide saw Officer Darrell Wilson terrorized by the DOJ for doing what any police officer would have done. He shot and killed a dangerous criminal in the act of assaulting him and trying to take his weapon. What did Officer Darrell Wilson do wrong? He shot and killed a young black man. In the end, after the rioting, Officer Darrell Wilson was found not to have done anything wrong by the DOJ which had descended upon Ferguson, Missouri like a cloud of locusts. This was just the first event of unfair prosecution that was seen by police officers across the U.S.

Let me answer my lead question of were any goals achieved? The answer is an unequivocal, Yes.

Police recruiting is down. Cash bonuses and other incentives will not fix it.

Officers will do only what they have to do. I remember officers responding to calls where they went above and beyond to protect lives and property. If you fought an officer, you got you knew you had been arrested. Those days are over. Officers are afraid of being the next Darrell Wilson.

If a suspect runs and the police tackle him they are being videoed. If two officers arrest a resisting suspect then they are being brutal. The truth of the matter is there is no flattering way the apprehend a fighting suspect because if one officer can’t do it then two officers try and if that doesn’t work then three officers try to make the arrest. All along the suspect is screaming and is covered in blue uniforms. The video can’t see the suspect clawing and scrapping to get an officer’s gun or just trying to hit the officer. No all the public can see is a blanket of blue beating someone. If a suspect is high on meth or PCP, it may take more to effect an arrest.

Remember cops are still going to run toward danger while the public is running away. That's not going to change. However, they are fighting an uphill battle with property crimes and the types of crimes that most citizens have to deal with.

Crimes are being downgraded. Burglaries of residences and businesses have started to be classified as theft. Burglary of an Auto is now a misdemeanor. Our legislatures have turned crimes that cops used to respond to with zeal to calls that are not important now. If our law makers don’t reverse this decriminalizing trend then criminals will not fear being caught. That leads departments to not sending officers to property crimes. Just call it in and get a case number for your insurance. Oh. That’s right your deductible is more than the damage. Why bother.

Promises not being kept. The cities and states have started reducing retirement benefits of first responders in an effort to steal from their retirement systems.

So, don’t look for Dirty Harry or TJ Hooker to chase the bad guys away anymore. Just suck it up, Buttercup. Cops feel your pain but they can’t do anything about it.